Jonathan Fried was thought to be the best candidate (Picture: Government of Canada)

Britain’s potential chief trade negotiator for Brexit walked away when the civil service refused to negotiate over his salary.

Jonathan Fried was considered to be the leading candidate but withdrew from the process when Sir Jeremy Heywood, the head of the civil service, would not budge on the £160,000 salary, The Times reported.

‘To suggest otherwise is completely false. We’ve had no difficulty attracting high-calibre talent for both permanent secretary roles, which received a significant number of applications from well-qualified candidates across the world.’

Sources told The Times that the position of chief trade negotiation adviser has now been filled and will be revealed soon.